Dakota Fanning Reveals What She Can Live With, and Without, at 21 (photos!)

Dakota Fanning poses for a very adult series of photos in the new issue of Nylon magazine. (Photo by Harper Smith for Nylon)

Dakota Fanning, known to millions as the precocious kid in movies like “I Am Sam” and “War of the Worlds,” is all grown up. She turned 21 in February and reveals in a new interview what she can live with–and without–as her career as an adult actress begins.

Fanning shows her new-found maturity in a series of stunning–and very grownup– photos in Nylon magazine, leaving no doubt that she’s a big girl now.

She shot to international attention at age seven in the 2001 film “I Am Sam,” with Sean Penn. She became the youngest actor ever nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for her role.

She had other high-profile roles as a child actress in “Man on Fire” (2004), “War of the Worlds” (2005) and “Charlotte’s Web” (2006). But her transition to more mature roles was not an easy one.

Dakota Fanning Rock Star Sexy (Click Photos to Enlarge!)

Indelibly etched in the minds of fans as a precocious kid, her roles in more adult films like “Hounddog” (2007) and “The Secret Life of Bees” (2008) drew some criticism that she was being over-sexualized as a teen.

But she’s beyond that now, and says she’s willing to live with the fact that many fans still see her as a kid.

“I’ve made my peace with the fact that there will be some people who, for the rest of my life, will believe I’m, like, nine years old. I have this joke that I’m literally going to be 35, married, and pregnant and people are still going to say, ‘Oh my god, you grew up so fast! I can’t believe it!’ And yeah, sometimes when you’re 21 years old and people are still saying that, you just want to rip your hair out. But I’m OK with it. I know who I am.”

Now here’s something she can live without… constantly being mistaken for one of the Olsen twins. It doesn’t help that she has a look-a-like younger sister, Elle Fanning, who is also an actress.

“There’s a man on my corner who thinks I’m an Olsen. He’ll yell, ‘Hey Olsen!’ at me. It’s really funny,” she says about one of the perils of living in New York City, which Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen also call home.

Fanning also says she doesn’t mind being considered an “old soul” in Hollywood. She’s managed to navigate her childhood career without the usual meltdowns and bad behavior other child stars go through.

“I’ve found that anybody who takes what they’re doing seriously or seems to be a caring person gets called an old soul. And it’s not a negative thing to say, but it’s also not 100 percent accurate. I might not be running around being insane, but I’m also a 21-year-old who likes to be silly. Just because I don’t flaunt those parts of my life doesn’t mean I don’t do some of that privately, you know what I mean?”

And here’s another thing she can do without…social media.

Not that she has a problem with photos: She looks stunning in ’70s style glam rock garb, including faux fur, big sunglasses and high boots. She’s photographed by Harper Smith and styled by Anda and Masha.

Check out her photos, let us know your thoughts and be sure to follow IM on Twitter for the latest celebrity news.

About The Author

TheImproper Staff

Keith Girard is Editor and Publisher of TheImproper, New York City’s cutting edge arts, entertainment pop culture and lifestyle Web magazine. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of Billboard magazine and a reporter for the Washington Post among other media positions.